One Life Deserves Another (Gambit)

[razor]

Nick Fury

"Ain't you heard... Nick Fury's got more lives than a cat!"

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Upon getting the message, Fury would nod, standing up and moving to the Whispering Oaks lodge in Youngsville, Louisiana. The place was decent. A nice getaway for a middle class family. A small thing that had intrigued him was the location. Why this place? Of all the world, why here? Wouldn't it be better for someone to go somewhere where there were less people? He wasn't one to judge, but he was curious. It seemed that he didn't want to push too many buttons today though... The reason for this meeting was dark, and the reason he had chosen Gambit for this meeting was even darker.


The man would walk up right beside Remy and give a smirk, "Not the first place I'd expect to find you, but definitely not the last."


He would look around at the various families walking around happily before looking the man in the eyes (well... eye), "Mind if we talk?"

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[aquarius]

Remy had been trying to clear his head. Maybe he wasn't Death any more, but he could still feel the echoes of Apocalypse's influence rattling around in his mind. He'd hoped going back to his old territory might help improve things, but there would be little chance of peace if he went to New Orleans. Fun though it was, there was usually some old feud, or someone trying to manipulate him into helping with their schemes. No, for peace and quiet he went to visit an old friend who was still in state, but not in the city. It was close enough, at least.

Relaxing in the bar, not in his old guild uniform (though he had it stored away in his room) but still favouring his usual longcoat, he was simply relaxing in the bar area occasionally sipping from a glass on the table in front of him and watching people come and go doing their ordinary things. This wasn't as relaxing as he'd hoped, but it was a lot better than he'd feared it might be.

Naturally when Nick Fury appeared beside him, his state of relaxation vanished. Outwardly there was no change, but the presence of that man indicated a high probability that something bad was about to happen - or was already happening. As such, being ready for it might well save his life.

"Not the first, not the last. Good place to hide. Everyone looks in those two places far too much. You don't make social calls, y'always know what's goin' on, an' you are a busy man. You want to talk, ah'm thinkin' it must be important. If ah were t' say 'no', ah don't think ah like what I not be knowin'. Sit, talk, an' scare me with what ah didn't know."

[razor]

Nick Fury

"Ain't you heard... Nick Fury's got more lives than a cat!"

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Fury would smirk at Remy's strategy. It was a good one, he had to give the man that.


"Funny. I used that same strategy for where I've been hiding' this whole time." He would say, taking a seat next to the Ragin' Cajun.


"Don't take the lack of social calls personally, I only do that for Logan and Cap. Those only started happening just recently, so you can figure how long it took to get to that point. Besides, I'm no fun to drink with... Being one of the most wanted criminals in the free world. Maybe they forgot, I'm not sure, but I haven't been doin' much of anything."


He would pull out a cigar and light it, sticking it in his mouth and taking a long puff. The place was dying down, which was good. They didn't need anyone overhearing them, this was still not fully out in the public yet.


"I'd love to sit here and ask if you were okay, play nurse and the like, but you're right. I may not be as busy as before, but we don't have time to wait around. If this all goes well, we'll all have time to sit around and give each other a therapy session... There's a threat on the planet right now, and it's been here for a while. An alien threat, no less. They swap out our loved ones and take on their personalities. Funny enough, this one bad thing that happened to you makes you one of the four men I can trust on this world right now... I'm asking' for your help, essentially."

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[aquarius]

Nick Fury might well be one of the most wanted men in the world, but Gambit knew several of the others on that list. Heck, he'd briefly been on it himself once or twice, though such things had been sorted out quickly enough. But what came next was quite possibly the scariest prospect that someone like Gambit, a man who lived his life in the shadows, could imagine.

"Hm. Ah've seen that before. A long time ago. Lemme guess. Green skin? Then people to trust be in short supply, an' my talents be of use, ah think. Ah'm in."

Someone like Nick Fury, if they came to you saying they needed help, you didn't say no if you wanted a world to live in in a week's time. To hear him use the word 'trust' felt wrong though. It was almost painfully unusual for him to say it, even if the context made it clear what he'd meant. But it brought up something they'd surely have to address at some point. Better address it now than later on, then. "Ah assume you expect this, then. How can I trust you? Ah assume 'Ah can't'?" And this was likely to be the same problem with absolutely anyone. Which was a big part of the problem he was trying to solve. Assuming he really was trying to solve it...

[razor]

Nick Fury

"Ain't you heard... Nick Fury's got more lives than a cat!"

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Fury would nod when Gambit accepted the position. It was a good start. It gave him hope for Logan. Gambit was one of the ones he was worried about getting. All except Deadpool would have been challenges, but Gambit was one hurdle he had been able to get over fairly easy.


"It's good you've got experience with them. That means you won't be as surprised and shaken when you see it happen to someone you know turn. You mind sharing' who it was?" He would ask, hoping to see if it was someone he hadn't seen on his monitors.


Then the million dollar question would be asked. One of the few questions the man COULD'NT answer.


"There's nothing that I can tell you that would make you trust me. Anything I say, a Skrull could say as well. So what I'll do, is not even bother with trying. Instead, I'll explain why you can trust the other three men that were alongside you in the tragedy of Apocalypse..." He would take another long puff of his cigar, "Apocalypse's celestial tech was made to specifically convert you. Remy LeBeau. Same as Wade Wilson, James Howlett, and Fred Dukes. If you weren't who you said you were, the machinations would have killed you. I've kept tabs on all of you throughout this time. Call it stalking, but it had to be done. So if you find you can't trust me, that's fine. Keep the intel to yourself for all I care. I'll just point you in the direction you need to go. I'm a part of this team as much as you men decide to allow me to be. When I say I trust you, I'm not sayin' I trust you to follow my lead. I'm sayin' I trust you to save the world."

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[aquarius]

Once Gambit's paranoia had been stirred up, it was difficult to get it to abate. When he was talking to someone who was a professional paranoid, it was basically impossible. When he answered, he kept his voice level and controlled, giving none of the emotions associated with the memories away. "Ororo, Charles... A few others over the years. Mostly it was in Shi'ar territory. An' while you were in the Savage Land with ma chere, 'less I be wrong about the timing." Having been part of the group of X-men who had been the first Terrans to encounter a War Skrull, it was something that made a lasting impression.

Had the question been a test though? Or a sign of a little slip up? Or was Fury not quite as all knowing as he'd been made out to be? Regardless, Gambit knew he'd have to be on his guard for a long time indeed and paranoia was only going to get worse before this was over. Fury's answer to his next question was at least a tiny bit reassuring, though perhaps immeasurably so. "Good. You don't use that word often, I know. You already use it more than I think I ever hear before. If you said I could trust you, I'd have known you were a bad impostor. Ah think ah best keep an eye on you, at least until we get the old gang back together. Who be next?"

[razor]

Nick Fury

"Ain't you heard... Nick Fury's got more lives than a cat!"

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Fury would nod. He knew what it was going to be like, and this time in isolation has gotten him used to that. He knew he couldn't pull all the strings anymore. At least not directly. He knew he could trust these four men to do their job. The four who had a hand in trying to destroy it would look for any chance in the universe to try and save it. They all knew that deep inside, whether they wanted to admit it or not, they had a decent heart.


"Please do, because the funny part is, I can't even trust myself. From the limited access I was able to get my mits on, those things are brainwashed to think they are who they are until they get the signal... If that's true, I could be one and not even know until I get the signal. Their mistake would have been making one of the smartest sumbitches on this planet aware of their presence, because I'm corralling the four men I know that can stop this so called invasion. You will find people who you may THINK are not swapped, but don't trust anyone..." He would chuckle for a second, "I never thought I would say these words out loud, but you're going to have to trust Deadpool to watch your six, and return the favor."


He would scratch his head when Remy asked about who was next, "I've got Dukes next. Deadpool is still in his apartment growing his head back from a scuffle with Elsa Bloodstone and Logan is out on his lone wolf schtick out in the middle of nowhere. I've got LMD's tracking them. Just like I had one on you."

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[aquarius]

As clear as Fury's advice was, Remy couldn't help but smile at one little part of it which amused him. "Trust nobody, an' trust Deadpool. Got it. Ah will just assume you sayin' Deadpool be a nobody, which sounds like how he live his life to me. Still, he be livin' his own life well, ah guess." And that was the problem Gambit had always had. As much as he liked his lifestyle, it most definitely was the source of at least ninety percent of all his troubles. Sometimes, he wished he was better at living his own life. Maybe then he'd not have messed things up with Rogue so many times, committed so many heinous acts in his past that he'd probably forgotten about some of them still, and generally messed things up so much that just living for today had ended up being his only reliable philosophy.

He was planning to go after someone else right away though? It was no great surprise, nor was the next revelation. Indeed, there was no sign of any degree of confusion on Gambit's face when he responded. "Ah am sure ah have no idea what 'LMD means'. But ah also assume that ah don't need to go with you, an' you be takin' me to somewhere secret?" Of course, Gambit could well be about to follow him into a trap, where the Skrulls were waiting for him to be lured in and replaced by one of them. But he could make a lot of noise if he needed to, and he was fairly sure they'd still be wanting to keep a low profile if they weren't acting openly quite yet. So if it was a trap? It was one with a double edged sword. If not? Then he was possibly walking into the safest place on the planet, where he could do the most to protect those he cared about. Assuming they really were who he cared about...

[razor]

Nick Fury

"Ain't you heard... Nick Fury's got more lives than a cat!"

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"Well, all symbolism aside, you will have to trust him. He's one of the three people in the world you can trust." He would say, making sure his point was rather clear. Until things were in the open, he didn't even want them to let him in on what they did. This was as much of a test for Fury as they it was for them. For once, he had no control. He was, in fact, turning over all control he had to the hands of Deadpool, Blob, Wolverine, and Gambit.


"To you, LMD means that I'm not actually here. This is a robot." The robot of Nick Fury would pull out a small burner phone and place it next to Gambit, "And you will not be coming with me. Once I have the other three wrangled, you will receive a message with the location on it. When you get the location, meet us there, and we will go from there... I look forward to working with you... Or at least watching you work with the others. You'll hear from me soon." He would say as he stood up.


"Any more questions?"

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[aquarius]

Gambit maintained his apparent straight faced nature at Fury's response about the LMDs, but his reply was virtually monotone, as if in a 'yes I know, this is what they call plausible deniability' fashion. "Not the most believable 'ah was never here' I've heard, but certainly the most original. If anyone asks, ah'll say ah don't know, an' then probably assume ah've gained someone's attention. No more questions, 'less you give me Stark's access codes or somethin' like that. Ah assume you already have mah phone number already, plus this new one. Hear from you soon, ah'm sure."

He was already starting to plan things out as much as he could, they'd need somewhere to hide out, and since Fury apparently couldn't be trusted it had to be somewhere they found for themselves. They'd need a lot of funds and resources, fortunately Gambit had acquired a lot of money over the years. Not all of it was in banks, so he could get some out now, retrieve one or two of his stashes, and be ready for when he had to disappear. He had a few safe houses of course, though chances are that he wasn't unique in that respect. Wolverine and Deadpool likely both had a few scattered across the country.

Planning ahead was only possible to a degree though. He didn't know what they could actually do about the problem, probably just watch people for signs of being up to something at first. Impossible missions with impossible stakes were something he was used to, though. By the time Fury called him, Gambit knew he would be as prepared as he could be.

"Watch your back, Colonel." It seemed that Fury was possibly going to lose much of what little he had left, and Gambit knew well enough that the path of a righteous man was beset on all sides, and despite his unusual methods, Fury was quite possibly the most righteous man he knew. No good deed ever went unpunished, though...

[razor]

Nick Fury

"Ain't you heard... Nick Fury's got more lives than a cat!"

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Nick Fury would stand and smile, shaking his head.


"Can't do that, friend." He would say making his way to the distance, but keeping eyesight on him, "I'll be too busy watching yours... Can't risk letting you get swapped now. Eyes gotta stay on, I just won't be pullin the strings any more. I want you to destroy the head of this thing when I send you the text on that phone, but not until then."


After he said that, the LMD would change. The expression would wipe off of its face, and it would hold to the shadows well, using the sensors within to be sure that no one had him eyesight except for Gambit.


Back At Base:

Was Fury aware that it was likely hard to relax with a version of himself playing overwatch on the man the entire time? Yes.
Was he very caring about it? No.
A time like this warranted being on your toes. He understood the man likely lacked sleep as a Horseman, but the world didn't stop for men like that. When this was all over, Gambit would be proud of it.


Remy LeBeau, Gambit, former Horseman of Death. He wasn't even Death the entire span of time that Apocalypse was alive and well, but he would be willing to bet his life that there were a lot of bodies left in his wake. Not that it could be helped... Gambit accepted a role today that can help right those wrongs, even if he wasn't totally responsible.
Today he became Gambit, Nick Fury's Soldier of Life.


{Thread End}

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